South Carolina Pest & Termite Control – Bug Busters USA, Inc.https://bugbustersusa.com
Just another Nichelabs websiteMon, 21 Jan 2019 21:52:31 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9Where Do Bugs Go During The Winter?https://bugbustersusa.com/2018/11/15/where-do-bugs-go-during-the-winter/
https://bugbustersusa.com/2018/11/15/where-do-bugs-go-during-the-winter/#respondThu, 15 Nov 2018 06:36:19 +0000http://blog.bugbustersusa.com/?p=39914Some bugs migrate to warmer climates during the winter months; some hibernate, while others are learning to stick out the cold months thanks to global warming. Bugs have a variety of ways of surviving the winter months. Often times spiders, insects and all types of arthropods will resort to “invasion” in order to avoid succumbing…

]]>Some bugs migrate to warmer climates during the winter months; some hibernate, while others are learning to stick out the cold months thanks to global warming. Bugs have a variety of ways of surviving the winter months.

Often times spiders, insects and all types of arthropods will resort to “invasion” in order to avoid succumbing to the harsh winter cold. Lady Bugs and box elder bugs are common for their dependence on human dwellings for survival during colder months.

Honeybee’s, on the other hand make use of a survival method known as “activation.” During the colder months bees will expend more energy to keep themselves warm. The bees are able to produce the extra heat by eating honey in excess. This results in a longer functioning metabolism that can adapt to the body’s demand to warm itself. Of course more and more spiders and insects are surviving just fine outdoors as a result of climate change, but it is still not the preferred method of winter survival among arthropods.

Do you see more bugs in your home during the later fall and winter months?

]]>0A Teenager Pulls A Massive Centipede Out Of His Earhttps://bugbustersusa.com/2018/11/02/a-teenager-pulls-a-massive-centipede-out-of-his-ear/
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 15:50:41 +0000http://bugbustersusa.com/?p=44729Centipedes are universally perceived as one of the ugliest arthropods in existence, which is really saying something considering that all insects and arachnids belong to the arthropod phylum. Most centipedes dwell beneath rocks and burrow into the ground below leaf litter. Centipedes also dwell on trees below the bark. However, centipedes do not typically burrow…

]]>Centipedes are universally perceived as one of the ugliest arthropods in existence, which is really saying something considering that all insects and arachnids belong to the arthropod phylum. Most centipedes dwell beneath rocks and burrow into the ground below leaf litter. Centipedes also dwell on trees below the bark. However, centipedes do not typically burrow in people’s heads, but one incident that occured three years ago had a teenage boy pulling a four inch centipede out of his own ear.

One morning in late June of 2015, a 14 year old teenager named Grant Botti awoke to an excruciating pain in his left ear. After having gently poked into his ear a few times, Botti felt something move. Botti then pulled a living four inch centipede out of his ear. Botti’s horrified mother immediately responded by placing the specimen within a plastic bag. Both Grant and his mother were creeped out to discover that the centipede was still alive and moving around within the clear plastic bag. Grant’s mother did not waste much time before rushing her son to the emergency room for a checkup, which seems in order considering the situation. As it turned out, Grant’s mom may have saved her son from developing hearing loss, as the centipede caused an infection by damaging certain parts of Grant’s inner ear. The centipede caused abrasions in Grant’s eardrum and ear canal. When the doctors and nurses heard that the teenager had pulled a centipede from his ear, they were in disbelief. The medical staff had seen a variety of different arthropods extracted from people’s ears, but they had never even heard of a centipede lodged within an ear.

Neither the teenager nor his mother had any idea as to how the centipede accessed Grant’s inner ear, but the teenager believed that he may have acquired it while swimming at a beach a couple of days prior to the incident. Luckily, Grant received treatment for his inner ear damage, and he was expected to make a full recovery.

]]>How Did Civil War Soldiers Avoid Eating Insect-Infested Foods?https://bugbustersusa.com/2018/10/31/how-did-civil-war-soldiers-avoid-eating-insect-infested-foods/
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 05:52:12 +0000http://bugbustersusa.com/?p=44727Serving as a soldier in any war seems like a nightmare, and this is especially true for wars fought decades ago when casualty rates were dramatically high on all sides. Avoiding enemy fire in the midst of war seems challenging, but surprisingly, many soldiers from past wars had to worry about their food more than…

]]>Serving as a soldier in any war seems like a nightmare, and this is especially true for wars fought decades ago when casualty rates were dramatically high on all sides. Avoiding enemy fire in the midst of war seems challenging, but surprisingly, many soldiers from past wars had to worry about their food more than the enemy. For example, during the Civil War, both Union and Confederate soldiers were forced to take special precautions in order to avoid consuming insects like weevils and maggot-contaminated meals and rations.

In order to keep the thousands of individual soldiers alive during the Civil War massive amounts of food had to be supplied at ground zero. As you can imagine, this food became contaminated with insects quickly. Union soldiers were given rations that contained a little more than a pound of meat per day. Sometimes, soldiers kept leftover meat in their rucksacks. If the meat was not already contaminated with bugs, then it surely would become contaminated later on. Various forms of meat were often contaminated with maggots or other insect larvae. In order to decontaminate these meat products, they were stored within pickled brine, but this only made the meat taste terrible.

Wheat crackers were also commonly issued to soldiers, but these crackers may have been even more insect-populated than the meat. These crackers were commonly called “worm castles” by Union soldiers. According to one soldier, the crackers were more heavily infested with weevils than maggots, but both were usually abundant. The crackers were called worm castles as the worm-looking larvae would create intricate designs within the hardened crackers. Another soldier mentioned finding more than 30 “worms” on his crackers, and such findings were typical. The “worms” that the soldiers referred to were likely flour moths and rice weevils. Despite the insect-contaminated food, soldiers were, nevertheless, grateful for the rations as food was in low supply. As far as Civil War soldiers were concerned, maggots and weevils were better fed than they were.

Do you think that you could eat insect-contaminated food if you were in a state of starvation?

]]>Why Do Invading Insects Move To New Parts Of A Home Toward The End Of Summer?https://bugbustersusa.com/2018/08/31/why-do-invading-insects-move-to-new-parts-of-a-home-toward-the-end-of-summer/
Fri, 31 Aug 2018 15:45:13 +0000http://bugbustersusa.com/?p=44671Why Do Invading Insects Move To New Parts Of A Home Toward The End Of Summer? No matter what time of year it is, people’s homes are always crawling with a variety of different creepy-crawly species. Insects and spiders may invade homes in an effort to avoid deadly climatic conditions, but spider and insect sightings…

]]>Why Do Invading Insects Move To New Parts Of A Home Toward The End Of Summer?

No matter what time of year it is, people’s homes are always crawling with a variety of different creepy-crawly species. Insects and spiders may invade homes in an effort to avoid deadly climatic conditions, but spider and insect sightings in homes are at their peak during the summer and fall seasons. Some particularly observant homeowners may have noticed that the areas where spiders and insects congregate most often tend to change over the course of the summer and fall seasons. This observation may often be dismissed as a product of a homeowner’s imagination, but, as it happens, there is a perfectly good explanation for why insects and spiders migrate to different areas of a home in accordance with the seasons.

During the hottest period of the summer season, many insects and spiders may choose to invade homes in order to stay cool. However, once the temperature cools during the late summer and early fall, spiders and insects are more often found on the south and western sides of a home. These migrating creatures are not simply looking for a change of scenery or a “new beginning”; instead, they are migrating toward warmer areas of a home. When the temperature drops, the south and west sides of a home see more hours of sunlight than the north and east sides of a home. In order to maintain their internal temperature, spiders and insects often move to the sunnier sides of a home when the weather cools. It is for this reason, that spiders and insects are often spotted in different areas of a home throughout the course of a year.

Of course, moving to warmer areas of a home will not save all spiders and insects during the dead of winter. This is why spiders and insects often crawl into small cracks and crevices during the winter months. These areas provide more insulation from the cold air. Many spider and insect species can overwinter within these cramped crevices, and this also explains why creepy-crawlies are found relatively less often within a home during the winter months.

Do you ever worry about dangerous insects or spiders invading your home?

]]>What Makes Tree-Dwelling Termites Unique?https://bugbustersusa.com/2018/08/09/what-makes-tree-dwelling-termites-unique/
Thu, 09 Aug 2018 15:37:30 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=44664Many people have heard that termites are divided into three basic groups. These groups are subterranean termites, which are soil-dwellers, drywood and dampwood termites. The termites that are almost always responsible for infestations in people’s homes are subterranean termites. This is because subterranean termites form large colonies that travel unseen beneath the ground’s surface. Both…

]]>Many people have heard that termites are divided into three basic groups. These groups are subterranean termites, which are soil-dwellers, drywood and dampwood termites. The termites that are almost always responsible for infestations in people’s homes are subterranean termites. This is because subterranean termites form large colonies that travel unseen beneath the ground’s surface. Both drywood and dampwood termite species infest single pieces of wood, most often rotting wood located in forested areas that are free from manmade structures. In addition to these termites, there is another group that nests on the branches of trees. Some of these termites can be included in the subterranean category, but they are usually referred to as “arboreal termites”. All arboreal termites belong to the Nasutitermes genus, and they only exist within Central and South America. However, these termites have recently been spotted near southern Florida’s shipping ports. These termites are sought after for a variety of reasons ranging from the scientific to the culinary.

Nasutitermes termites are the most abundant termites in the Americas. They build their nests at both high and low areas of a tree. These termites inhabit a variety of trees, but mango and avocado trees seem to be their preferred habitat. However, these termites have also been found nesting on concrete, metal and wooden structures. Their nests feel like hard cardboard, and they construct these nests with both feces and digested wood in order to create this sturdy and protective outer shell. Much like eastern subterranean termites in North America, Nasutitermes termite colonies contain around 56,000 individual termites, but the N. Coringer species can form colonies comprised of one million termites. These termites are relatively well protected from predators, as they nest high above the ground. They also secrete a sticky substance that irritates the skin of predators, such as anteaters and birds. Another unique aspect of the Nasutitermes genus is the presence of only one single reproductive female. If this female dies, then so will the colony. This one reproductive female resides at the center of the nest, which is usually at a tree’s stump. This area is heavily reinforced so that the female’s eggs can remain safe from attack. The female does produce winged reproductives, but they remain within the nest for several months before establishing new colonies elsewhere. These termites are now being studied for their potential contribution to a new form of bio-fuel, and they are reported as being the most delicious tasting termite in the world.

]]>The Development Of Insects As Biological Weapons In America Remains Shrouded In Mystery To This Dayhttps://bugbustersusa.com/2018/08/06/the-development-of-insects-as-biological-weapons-in-america-remains-shrouded-in-mystery-to-this-day/
Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:57:17 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=44658Many other insect-related blogs have described how insects have been used as weapons of war throughout human history. The use of insects as weapons of warfare has been in practice for thousands of years, so it must be pretty effective. Given the high fatality rate that results just from mosquito bites alone, it may not…

]]>Many other insect-related blogs have described how insects have been used as weapons of war throughout human history. The use of insects as weapons of warfare has been in practice for thousands of years, so it must be pretty effective. Given the high fatality rate that results just from mosquito bites alone, it may not be hard to believe that certain insect species make for great weapons of mass destruction. Although the topic of insects as a form of biological weaponry has been discussed to death in other blog posts, not many articles exist online that describe the precise role of the American government when it comes to research on insects as unconventional weapons of warfare. Although it may be hard to believe, but the American Government has been experimenting with insects in the battlefield ever since the Civil War. However, America was not the first nation to start a program dedicated to the research and development of insects as weapons of war.

During the Civil War, it was alleged that the Union Army infected southern crops with the harlequin bug, which is a destructive crop pest. However, it was later found that the bug probably migrated to the southern states from Mexico, but its migration may have been facilitated by humans. During the 1930’s, Great Britain received reports that Hitler’s Third Reich would soon establish an entomological warfare program. In response to these reports, the British Government wasted no time establishing their own entomological warfare program in 1934, which became the first program of its kind in history. Soon afterward, as the US was preparing for war, the first American entomological warfare program was started by the government. As the nation mobilized for war, the program recruited 4,000 employees to conduct research on the effective use on insects in warfare. Before World War Two ended, the US had spent over 45 million dollars on research into insects as weapons of war.

Do you think that research into entomological warfare is still going on today in America?

]]>The Spotted Lanternfly Is In America To Wreak Havochttps://bugbustersusa.com/2017/10/02/the-spotted-lanternfly-is-in-america-to-wreak-havoc/
Mon, 02 Oct 2017 15:27:57 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=42586The spotted lanternfly was introduced to the United States back in 2014, and experts are still not sure how to reduce their population levels. These invasive insects are native to China, India, Vietnam and can be found in parts of southeast Asia. They were introduced to South Korea in 2006 where they caused significant economic…

]]>The spotted lanternfly was introduced to the United States back in 2014, and experts are still not sure how to reduce their population levels. These invasive insects are native to China, India, Vietnam and can be found in parts of southeast Asia. They were introduced to South Korea in 2006 where they caused significant economic damage. Here in the United States these invasive insects pose serious threats to timber trees, peach trees, grapes, and any type of fruit tree that you can name . Lanternflies spread rapidly, and the damage that they can cause to the economy cannot be overestimated. These damaging insects were first spotted in Pennsylvania during September of 2014. These invasive insects are free to cause massive crop damage since they do not have any natural predators within the continental US.

Lanternfly nymphs and adults use their sucking mouthparts to pierce the skin of a wide variety of plants in order to access nutrients. These insect pests also secrete a sugary substance that is similar to aphid honeydew. These secretions often result in the spread of mold and the growth of disease. When lanternflies are within their natural environment, their secretions and feeding habits typically do not result in disease growth or mold formation. This is due to the presence natural predators that keep the lanternflies from over infestations. Of course, as already mentioned, no such natural predators exist within the US. In regions where the lanternflies feeding habits are not hindered by natural predators, over infestation often occurs, which results in numerous diseased or dead plants. Lanternflies feed on sixty five different plants. They show a preference for plants that are high in sugar and possess toxic metabolites.

These invasive spotted lanternflies can be spotted during the spring as nymphs. During their nymphal stage lanternflies will have a black body with white spots. During the summer season lanternflies can be spotted feeding as adults. Lanternfly damage can appear as wounds that bleed sap. These sap-wounds can be inflicted on wooded and non-wooded plants. Each year since their discovery, efforts have been successfully made to limit the invasive insects to a quarantine zone in Pennsylvania.

Do you believe that the invasive spotted lanternflies will escape their quarantine zone at some point in the future?

]]>A Malaria Vaccine May Be Available Within A Couple Of Yearshttps://bugbustersusa.com/2017/09/26/a-malaria-vaccine-may-be-available-within-a-couple-of-years/
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 15:12:24 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=42573A Malaria Vaccine May Be Available Within A Couple Of Years We have all heard of malaria and we are thankful that we do not have it. As far as mosquito-borne diseases are concerned, malaria may be the most deadly of them all. Malaria has been devastating certain regions of the world for a long…

We have all heard of malaria and we are thankful that we do not have it. As far as mosquito-borne diseases are concerned, malaria may be the most deadly of them all. Malaria has been devastating certain regions of the world for a long time. It is rare to hear anybody mention the possibility of a malaria vaccine. Malaria just seems like one of those mosquito-borne diseases that will be around forever. Luckily, this may not be the case, as researchers in Australia have recently made progress towards developing a malaria vaccine.

Researchers from the Melbourne independent medical research center have discovered that carbohydrates are heavily involved with the malaria parasites and the way it infects human hosts. Experts have always been under the impression that the malaria parasite only uses proteins to infect humans. However, researcher Justin Boddey has found that this is not true, and carbohydrates also play a role. In order for a malaria parasite to infect a human host it must tag certain proteins with a carbohydrate. This was not previously known to medical science. This is part of the reason why previous attempts at developing a malaria vaccine failed. When medical scientists worked on malaria vaccines in the past, they only focused on replicating the proteins that the parasite infects. Now Boddey knows that these early attempts only resulted in an immune response that failed to reach the source of infection. While the protein structure was mimicked perfectly by scientists, the proteins would not reach their target because the scientists had not added on the carbohydrates.

Now Boddey, and other researchers who have reviewed his research, want to develop proteins that are constructed along with the carbohydrates. Boddey believes that most of the work has already been done by past researchers, and adding a carbohydrate molecule onto a protein will be easy, as this sort of chemical engineering is already being done. Developing a malaria vaccine would be revolutionary, as more than two hundred million people are infected malaria each year.

Do you believe that a malaria vaccine could be produced within two years? How would the world change if malaria was no longer a debilitating disease?

]]>Bank Lenders Are Paying More Attention To Termite Damage In Homeshttps://bugbustersusa.com/2017/09/25/bank-lenders-are-paying-more-attention-to-termite-damage-in-homes/
Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:26:11 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=42569Bank Lenders Are Paying More Attention To Termite Damage In Homes Many of us are either living in our own home, or are hoping to someday buy a home. Raising children as a homeowner is a simple and common desire for most young people. Everybody wants a piece of the American dream, but something you…

Many of us are either living in our own home, or are hoping to someday buy a home. Raising children as a homeowner is a simple and common desire for most young people. Everybody wants a piece of the American dream, but something you would never expect is making home-buying more difficult in some cases. These days, bank lenders are paying more attention to the risk of termite infestations within a home. Termite damage can be expensive to repair, and regular termite inspections within a home are absolutely necessary in order to avoid termite infestations. Unfortunately, many homeowners slack on having in-home termite inspections conducted. Some homeowners completely avoid termite inspections under the mistaken belief that they are unnecessary. There are also those types of homeowners who believe that termites cannot go unnoticed. These homeowners will simply rely on their own eyes in order to ensure their home is free from termites. However, it takes a licensed and educated professional in order to properly determine whether or not a home is infested with termites. Many states are now enacting laws that require licensed contractors to provide lenders with detailed written reports concerning a home’s history of termite infestations.

Every state has laws on the books that require homeowners to provide lenders with information about past and present damages to their homes. These reports have always made mention of “wood destroying insects,” or “WDI.” However, these laws are changing to force homeowners to provide more information concerning WDI damage, which is mainly limited to termite damage. For example, lenders in many states are demanding to know if past termite damage was cosmetic or structural. Even more invasive are questions concerning the results of past termite inspections. Lenders require a written report made up by a licensed contractor which details the results of every termite inspection ever conducted within a home. Of course, this information also gives away whether or not homeowners blew-off termite inspections.

This information is important to lenders as well as to the buyers of homes. Lenders want to protect their investments. And home buyers may not be able to make mortgage payments if a previously unknown termite infestation is found within a new home. This could result in the new homeowners being forced to pay large sums of money to have their new homes reconstructed following termite damage. This also means that a person hoping to buy a home can only get a loan provided that the home they want to buy has the proper reports concerning past cases of termite damage. Sometimes, the burden of providing these reports can be on the buyers, and not the homeowners selling the property.

Do you think that it is fair for a prospective homebuyer to be legally obligated to provide a termite history report to a lender in order to receive a home loan?

]]>New Invasive Insect Threatens Americahttps://bugbustersusa.com/2017/08/16/new-invasive-insect-threatens-america/
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 16:08:12 +0000https://bugbustersusa.com/?p=42480Last year farmers and agricultural professionals were stumped as to what was killing so much Roseau cane, a tall grass-like plant that grows all over the world. In the United States Roseau cane grows around the mouth of the Mississippi river. After a few months, the reason for the mass death of these plants was…

]]>Last year farmers and agricultural professionals were stumped as to what was killing so much Roseau cane, a tall grass-like plant that grows all over the world. In the United States Roseau cane grows around the mouth of the Mississippi river. After a few months, the reason for the mass death of these plants was finally found, and it came from Asia. An insect that is known as the Roseau cane scale has been killing numerous grassy cane plants in the southeastern US.

Not only is Roseau cane used for economic purposes, but its existence is also necessary to maintain the health of the marshy ecosystem found in the south. One reason why researchers have had such a hard time solving the mass Roseau cane plant deaths has to do with the size of the invasive insect pests that have been feeding on these canes. The Roseau cane scale is smaller than a fingernail. Despite their small size, these bugs have been turning swaths of grassy canes into barren fields of dead vegetation.

The scare caused by this sudden lack of healthy Roseau cane fields resulted in the coming together of academics as well as state and federal agencies. Federal funding has already been requested in order to properly study this devastating and tiny invasive insect pests. Even members of the public have begun to worry about their well cultivated gardens. Nearby farmers are also concerned about the possibility of this invasive scale insect hopping to other crops, especially sugar-cane crops. Experts all seem to agree that different crops throughout America are all at risk of infestation by this invasive scale insect.

Researchers have run into many logistical problems concerning monitoring and eradication efforts. For example, some experts have considered the release of wasps in order to cut down on scale insect populations, as wasps are natural predators to scale insects like the Roseau cane scale. However, wasps can also cause many other problems. Hopefully, the experts think of a method of pest control before the Roseau cane scale invades all of America’s crops.

Had you ever heard of the Roseau cane scale insect before? Were you aware that other scale insects could be considered insect pests?